Bishop Who Escaped Abortion After Doctors Said He’d Be a “Freak” Will Lead March for Life

There are thousands, perhaps millions of people who could have become abortion victims because their parents were informed by their doctors that they would have physical or mental health issues after birth. Bravely, those parents decided not to have an abortion and, in many cases, those unborn babies before perfectly healthy people.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens is one such person. LifeNews has profiled this bishop who escaped abortion and now he’s given an interview to CatholicVote to share the rest of the story. Next week, he will lead students from Benedictine College at the March for Life.

“When my mom was 20 weeks pregnant with me, her water broke and she went immediately to the hospital,” he said. “She and my father spent a night in prayer that they would not lose the baby. The next morning, the doctor came in after running some tests.”

The doctor said, “I need to tell you that your child is severely deformed and I recommend that we induce labor” — in other words, end the child’s life prematurely.

Mrs. Cozzens said, “Absolutely not.”

The doctor answered, “You don’t get it — this child is a freak.”

“I don’t care what you say,” she answered. She was determined to keep her baby — and to get a new doctor.

A second doctor was sent and he said the baby would be fine, “If you’re willing to lie in bed for the rest of this pregnancy.”

The parents were happy to do just that. But “How will we pay?” they asked. Insurance wouldn’t cover a months-long hospital stay.

The new doctor said not to worry. He had made a bet with the first doctor that she would deliver a healthy and normal child. If the baby was normal, Doctor 1 would pay for her $1,200 hospital stay. If not, Doctor 2 would pay.

“When the second doctor delivered me he told the nurse to go get the other doctor and tell him to see his ‘little freak,’” laughed Bishop Cozzens.